Unlike other forms of art which consist of few characters, film production includes many characters who are essential to keep the movie going, also considering other added factors like weather, hence some things can go wrong during production. Therefore, when it come to film production, applying the Murphy’s Law which says anything that was to go wrong will go wrong is very essential so as to reduce the mistakes,although upon close examination of the said law, some movies never went wrong. Leaving that alone, let’s have a check of seven movies that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, with the help of the director in some cases.

7 Wild Movies That in a Way Went Wrong

1

Cleopatra (1963)

The film emerged as one of the dangerous productions ever taken which almost bankrupted 20th Century fox were it no for “The Sound of Music” which brought the studio back to its stand.

The movie is directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who was the starring. The film budgeted cost was $2 million but rose to $44 million thanks to the extravagant sets, props, and costumes that were constructed twice. The film was initially to be shot in London but later the shooting was done in Rome. Mankiewiczwas fired during the editing process but since 20th Century Fox could no find another person to do the editing, he was called back.

Associated with Cleopatra production woes were Taylor seeing her $1 million contact swells up to $7 million due to the production delays. Taylor and another star (Burton) fell into a conspicuous affair which added negative public image to the film.

2

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The movie is chronicled in 1991 documentary by the name Hearts of Darkness as “A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” and reveals a series of events that could have made any director to quit directing it. Theworst events in the movie were actor Marlon Brando’s arriving on positionoverweight and not ready to take up his role, star actor Martin Sheen getting a heart attack on the site, and demolition of very expensive sets by adverse weather.

On completion of production, Apocalypse Now had 1 million feet of film footage which made the editing process very vicious. The film was first shown at the 1979 Cannes film festival and was received with uproar by audience making it win Palm d’Or award. The movie also got nominated for best picture, art direction, directing, editing, writing, and best supporting actor (Robert Duvall) Academy Awards and won that award for Best Cinematography.

3

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Directed by, Michael Cimino, Heaven’s Gate has quite a number of bad scores in the film history. The movie ranked position eight in box office flop. It earned $ 42.4 above the forecasted earnings of $3.4. The movie became worst since director overtook the entireproject by disregarding other stakeholders in its production.

Cimino deed the most shots which are equivalent to 1.3 million feet of footage and the film production cost surpassed the budget wit over $13 million. In the editing room, Cimino assumed United Artists until the movie production was over he also paid no attention to the input of Editor William H. Reynolds, an Oscar award winner. After he was through, Cimino run a cut in the studio for 5 hours and 25 minutes which made United Artists have intentions to fire him. After completing his project, Cimino run it for three hours and thirty nine minutes but received much criticism from critics.

4

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

This movie runs through actual events of Peruvian rubber tycoon, Carlos Fitzcarrald, who tried to sail a ship across Isthmus in bid to access rubber. The movie has a famous pairing of German director by birth, Werner Herzog, and actor Klaus Kinski which produces unforgettable moments. The most accomplishing events that made the pairing very effective are the usual clashes between the two personalities.As revealed in Herzog’s documentary, My Best Fiend, the native extras in the film were bothered by Kinski’s antagonistic behaviour to the extent of a native chief offering to kill Kinski for sure. The tension, according to Herzog, between Kinsiki’s characters and the natives was due to the fact the native extras hated kinsiki.

The real events that made this movie crazy is when Carlos Fitzcarrald’s carried pieces of a 30-ton steamship and reassembled it on the other river while Herzog’s steamship that weighed 320-tons was transported in one piece. However, depiction of large steamboat via isthmus in the movie is real and not special. Although many events in the movie seem dangerous, only six people got injured in its production.

5

The Abyss (1989)

Although the film is one of James Cameron’s works forgotten work, it is one of the most celebrated movies based on its famous production that was aimed at upholding the film’s legacy.

Cameron took no short cuts in producing this film since almost all scenes happens under water. Eventually, he settled to do his shooting at Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant outside Gaffney in South Carolina. Two tankers were created one being 55 feet deep and 209 feet wide and having a capacity of 7.5 million gallons. With many actors opting a shoot from a depth of 30 feet, Cameroon together with his diving crew went up to 50 feet depth and stayed there for five hours.

Due to the physical demanding nature of the film, many actors were affected in different ways and termed the project as one of the toughest they have ever undertaken. At some point, members like Ed Harris was described as crying when going home from the set and Elizabeth Mastrantonio run away fro the site when Cameron told them to relieve themselves in their wetsuits if they wanted to remain on the schedule.

6

Waterworld (1995)

It is yet another movie where production cost sprawled from $ 100 million to $175 million though the gross earnings in this movie amounted to $264 hence recovering the cost.

It clearly indicates how hard it can be to shoot a movie on water. The movie director, Steven Spielberg, advised his fellow director not to ever try to shoot on water, “Whatever you do, never shoot on water, most probably due to his experiences with Jaws. The budget deviation from the initial was highly attributed to the by long delays that resulted from a hurricane that hit the shooting site destroying costly sets that were to be rebuilt hence extending the delay since they were very complicated to set again.

The disastrous events in the movie are when Costner almost drowned when he was caught in a storm, Laird Hamilton being lost in the sea after his ski jet ran out of fuel, Norman Howell going to the hospital due to decompression sickness, and Tina Majorino sting form a jellyfish.

7

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2016)

Though no yet released, the movie adds the list of would go wrong films due to it failed production. Director is Terry Gilliam; the movie’s failure is enhanced by the fact that behind the scenes footage was done by Fulton and Louis Pepe, who abandon it and opt for Lost in La Mancha, a very celebrated documentary.

The factors contributing to the movie’s production failure went beyond the control of its composers though the movie seems very ambitious based on its budget. Some of the failing factors include bothering noise from NATO aircrafts since the shooting location, BardenasReales in Spain, is the NATO practice area. Adding to the woes is that during the second day of shooting the area was hit by storm and flash flood that not only destroyed much production equipment but also made the appearance of the area unsuitable for the shooting since the floods completely changed the appearance of the area.

The future of the film rests in the hands of an insurance company since the production resulted in an insurance claim worth $ 15 million, amount that when paid the screenplay rights will be transferred back to the director. Based on reports, Gilliam indicated his plans to resume the film production in the future.